MONDAY 00:00:00 - My cam timing is off.
TUESDAY 00:01:00 - More Tech Woes
WEDNESDAY 00:02:00 - Mission Mungness - Yokohama to Osaka to Akita in a day
THURSDAY 00:03:00 - North of the Wall
notFRIDAY 00:04:00 - Freestyle BMX
SATURDAY 00:05:00 - Forever Alone
notSUNDAY 00:06:00 - Sheer Beauty
Dont wanna G+? Comment here instead!
I’ve been busier than a cop in Hillbrow on New Year’s Eve.. this is a week late... but better late than pregnant.
MONDAY 00:00:00 - More Shibuya
TUESDAY 00:01:00 - WORK! (Not a Job)
WEDNESDAY 00:02:00 - Best friends are best.
THURSDAY 00:03:00 - Home
notFRIDAY 00:04:00 - Driving in Gunma
SATURDAY 00:05:00 - Bang the Drums
SUNDAY 00:06:00 - Hot Pot
There was a suicide at Nishi Kawaguchi Station in Saitama today. I got some interesting, freaky and even a few gory shots… For some reason, I like this one best.
Msumungo, A subscriber of mine suggested I check out the Ochanomizu are a in Tokyo for a 7 Days 7 Minutes video. As it turns out it was a pretty epic place so I made a longer video.
If you play the guitar. Make sure you have a box of tissues handy.
MONDAY 00:00:00 - Panasonic Woes
TUESDAY 00:01:00 - Backup Body Tests
WEDNESDAY 00:02:00 - Omotesando
THURSDAY 00:03:00 - Mission Mungness
FRIDAY 00:04:00 - Cyclists are a Plague
SATURDAY 00:05:00 - Hot Candy
SUNDAY 00:06:00 - Random Sunday
Don't wanna Google Plus?
Comment on this video right here!
And by them… I mean us.
Incidentally If you want some of the epic Apricot Jam we used, hit up Kyouhoen’s Facebook Page.
MONDAY 00:00:00 - Want Music?
TUESDAY 00:01:00 - GINZA
WEDNESDAY 00:02:00 - Winter Drive
THURSDAY 00:03:00 - Akiba Article
FRIDAY 00:04:00 - A Painful Car indeed
SATURDAY 00:05:00 - OMIYA
SUNDAY 00:06:00 - Piece of Shit Camera
Tuesday Tune: お願い (Onegai) By MANNY MARX http://mannymarx.bandcamp.com/track/onegai
You can get his music free... or you can pay however much you want.
Wednesday link: Japan How It Is: Fukui City http://youtu.be/nH6P4PO55fU
Friday link: My Article on PC World: http://goo.gl/7MshcP
We were at an Okinawan restaurant and one of the dishes that were orderd was an Okinawan delicacy called 'mimiga'... Basically shaved and fried pig ears.
Watch the video to see my verdict on their taste.
MONDAY 00:00:00 - MO
TUESDAY 00:01:00 - Yoyogi Park Autumn
WEDNESDAY 00:02:00 - Edit & Feedback
THURSDAY 00:03:00 - Los Popcorn Hermanos
FRIDAY 00:04:00 - Follow Friday
SATURDAY 00:05:00 - I don't like riding trains
SUNDAY 00:06:00 - Absurdly Warm
Follow Friday: Germany How It Is: https://www.youtube.com/user/HiroshigeBBSzene
I took a long walk from my place in Kawasaki to My favorite place in Tokyo, Shibuya.
I learnt a a lot about the area around me and discovered a few interesting places.
In a city like Tokyo where everyone rides the trains, one is limited to only the central hubs around the stations. If you never venture out of their gravitational pull and into 'interstational' space you can miss out on many really awesome parts of the city.
Tune:
"Amari wakaranai kedo" by kulimu (feat. irish4t, Tsurutin)
http://ccmixter.org/files/kulimu/13575
is licensed under a Creative Commons license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/
The best guitarist in the world. Frontman for the best band in the world. ESP Pink sawtooth. Found this at the ESP custom store in Ochanomizu.
I was sent to Tochigi prefecture by “Highlighting Japan” to interview someone for a future article and so I got to go back to Japan (albeit for only a few hours) The return to Tokyo was a rather sad train ride but the sunset was rather spectacular.
MONDAY 00:00:00 - My Bad
TUESDAY 00:01:00 - Mizonokuchi (Kanagawa Prefecture)
notWEDNESDAY 00:02:00 - Visitations
THURSDAY 00:03:00 - JagerBomb
notFRIDAY 00:04:00 - Secondary Smoke
notSATURDAY 00:05:00 - EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
notSUNDAY 00:06:00 - MORE EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tunes by Manny Marx
off the Album Vagabond: http://mannymarx.bandcamp.com/
Tuesday: Broken Winged Pidgeon http://mannymarx.bandcamp.com/track/broken-winged-pigeon
Friday: Do you Really Care http://mannymarx.bandcamp.com/track/do-you-really-care
Saturday & Sunday: major Key? Mezurashii http://mannymarx.bandcamp.com/track/major-key-mezurashii
The album is available to DL for free but if you like it, why not pay what you can and support independent artists.
notMONDAY - Brass Band Club
TUESDAY - Hello Bleak
WEDNESDAY - Evil Engine 25
THURSDAY - Session
notFRIDAY - Subscriber / Friend meetup
SATURDAY - Ramen
SUNDAY - Tax Tax Baby
I was at a food fair showcasing the deliciousness that Every prefecture in Japan has to offer. Some of the fuzzy representatives were there too.
A month or so ago, I was out in Shibuya (as I often am) and spotted these two import bad boys. I couldn’t resist firing off a few shots.
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While they are no means the pinnacle of performance in their respective classes, nor are they my favorite cars in those classes, they are still sweet rides.
What do you think of the shots?
And the cars themselves?
MONDAY - You Rock!
TUESDAY - I look like a brown SerpentZA
WEDNESDAY - Not Good
THURSDAY - Blast from the Past
notFRIDAY - The REAL Tokyo
SATURDAY - Let's talk about the weather.
SUNDAY - iPhone 5c
00:00:00 Monday - Train-ing
00:01:00 Tuesday - just doesn't feel right.
00:02:00 Wednesday - Finally. Some Luck.
00:03:00 notThursday - Maximum The Hormone @ Ozzfest 2013
00:04:00 Friday - FollowFriday: gnrocks91 https://www.youtube.com/user/gnrocks91)
00:05:00 notSaturday - I Miss Shibukawa
00:06:00 Sunday - TrueFriendship
MONDAY 00:00:00 - What The TRUCK!
TUESDAY 00:01:00 - Apocalypse Now
WEDNESDAY 00:02:00 - RELAX
THURSDAY 00:03:00 - YOSHIMURA-YA
FRIDAY 00:04:00 - Can't kill the protest
SATURDAY 00:05:00 - Heavy Mental
SUNDAY 00:06:00 - I don't understand
I've been so busy hating Tokyo that I forgot all that culture shock jibberjabber from JET orientation half a decade ago…
When passing on the info to a friend who is experiencing classic symptoms I realized that I too was experiencing them... Which means that I might actually like Tokyo after all in a few months when I adapt to all it's fake plasticity.
The thing is, I'm not so sure I like that…
I don't want to think of vacuous husks of soulless, brand huffing meat mannequins as being members of the same species as me. I think I actually like hating them, despite the stress it brings. Though in truth I have much in common with them than I choose to admit. It's just much easier to treat them like the insensitive, selfish scum that they pretend to be…
because they are different to me…
I sound ‘murican.
Though now that I know it's just culture shock I almost want to see if there are some humans under caked make up, vacant expressions and badly fitting suits...
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I do think that in a month or 2 when I hit my stride here I will have to eat many a word... I mean they truly cannot be as out of touch with reality as the media makes them think they are... right? Well maybe that is possible especially since so many of them were happy about the Tokyo Olympics.
But seriously, even if they are ignoring to the realities facing the country, To take them at face value is a bit harsh….
Ok, the louts who don’t give their seats to old people on the trains will always be scum…
But I think maybe most of them are only soulless brand huffing meat mannequins because that’s what the city expects them to be and it’s so much easier to fit in than to be true. Does that mean that when I adjust to my new life here I will look vacantly through everyone going about my own things in my own way, ignorant or at least resigned to the fact that regardless of how much I rage I truly will not make any difference.
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JohnnyTokyo would probably tell me to just ignore it and see the good side (because there really is one). That’s probably why he thrives here. I wonder if I will have the willpower to tolerate the levels of BS that one needs to to make this city home… Or whether I should just start applying for jobs in Osaka. Hell Maybe I just need to move back to Gunma, re-shaken the Silvia and take a good drive to cleanse the grime that has been deposited on my mind.
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That would be nice but not realistic.
There is always Shibuya. No matter how much I hate Tokyo I always love Shibuya. Despite having the highest concentration slaves to society, It also has a rich underbelly that cramps and spasms to continually keep the system slightly uneasy. It brings out the truth in people and shows them glimpses of freedom from their societal bondage . Yes. If I am to make something of a life for myself in this cesspool, Shibuya is the place to start.
I hate thinking rationally sometimes. I always have to figure out the truth behind my feelings Being able to blindly and irrationally hate people because you dislike them looks like a nice simple life.
Damn this got deep.
But I’m feeling better already!
In the summer I went to the Cat's home town in Nagano. The timing coincided with a relatively new Summer festival in the Onsen (Hot Spring) district of the town. The Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen Matsuri.
MONDAY: TYPHOON! 00:00:00
TUESDAY: HELLO 00:01:10
WEDNESDAY: No Pants! 00:02:00
THURSDAY: Tokyo Station 00:03:00
FRIDAY: FollowFriday - Nagi (bass) from DevilVi 00:04:00
SATURDAY: Emergency!!!!!! 00:05:00
SUNDAY: darc.jp 00:05:43
Take a look at my photography portfolio: http://www.darc.jp
follow Nagi: https://twitter.com/nagi_negi_yagi
00:00:00 Monday: RageMode
00:01:00 Tuesday: Canon 5DmkIII
00:02:00 Wednesday: Dinner Time
00:03:00 notThursday: m4/3 Lens Tests
00:04:00 Friday: Follow Friday: Moteki Texan
00:05:00 notSaturday: Shibuya Stroll
00:06:00 Sunday: FoodLibraries... 1 free internet if you get the reference.
I went to Kagurazaka in Tokyo to try out ramen from the Ryu-Ho.
Wanna try it out for yourself?
go here: http://goo.gl/ECms4P
Music by Manny Marx: http://mannymarx.bandcamp.com/
Support his work if you like his tunage.
0:00:00 MONDAY RatRace
0:01:00 TUESDAY UENO
0:02:00 notWEDNESDAY Flashback to 2009 Tokyo Auto Salon
0:03:00 THURSDAY Fukuroda Station Ibaraki Prefecture
0:04:00 FRIDAY Fukuroda Falls Ibaraki Prefecture
0:05:00 SATURDAY METAL!!!!
0:06:00 notSUNDAY I miss my car
0:00:00 Monday: It's Not Raining!
0:01:00 notTuesday: God Knows
0:02:00 Wednesday: Steelcase Leap Chair
0:03:00 notThursday: Shinjuku Station
0:04:00 Friday: Sujk Arkhelism Live 2. Ikebukuro Edge
0:05:00 Saturday: Motown??
0:06:00 Sunday: Enka
Check out this short write up on Time Out Tokyo:
http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/event/9462/Ice-Cream-Collection
It is a beautiful example of how one can create spectacular imagery with the English language. I don't want to fault the writer because their beautiful way with words convinced the cat and I to go to Ikebukuro and experience "minefield for brain freeze".
All one can ever really want as a writer is to have your words spur readers to action... The trouble is there is a line where creative embellishment goes so far that it illustrates an image so disconnected with reality, that it becomes a downright lie.
The "enormous ice cream festival" barely covered 5 square meters. It was a bunch of freezers shoved in a corner of what is effectively the entrance thoroughfare to the Ikebukuro Tokyu Hands store. Which had a whole selection of other promotions that got in the way of the Ice Cream and effectively destroyed the ambiance so much that I didn't even want to see what all the flavours were nor read all the tiny info written on tiny cards.
The companies from "across Japan" were mostly clustered on Honshu and the "local ingredients" were very general and not necessarily specific to the locations.The biggest let down however was the fact that when they said "Fans can sample flavours from all over the country" they meant fans can pay stupid prices for samples of the flavours from all around the country without being able to try them out for free... You know because insult is never good without injury.
The cat LOVES ice cream. And the look of disappointment on her face was painful. I felt like an asshole because I was the one who read about it and convinced her to go to Ikebukuro to check it out (she hates crowded places).
Thankfully, there was an Okinawan Ice Cream shop in Sunshine City next door so we could have a delicious frozen treat from somewhere much further away than the overpriced mouthfuls on show at the festival.
Truthfully, if they told it like it was, I probably would have gone with plan-B and all the cool stuff that we saw AFTER the ice cream disappointment wouldn't have happened. so in the end I suppose I am happy that I went...
But I am still pissed off that I was effectively trolled into going.
That said, If anyone of you were planning to check it out... Don't. it's not worth it.
You wanna check out AKB 48 live? Or maybe join me in a moshpit?
Either way you are going to need to get tickets for the show.
This is the easiest way to get them.
Monday: Ride The Lightning
Tuesday: Camera Repairs and a trip to the beach.
Wednesday: Nice Suit, No Job
Thursday: KawaSUCKY
Friday: HubblyBubbly
Saturday: Fireworks from Afar
Sunday: Ikebukuro
So… not so much of a job interview as much as a chat but I should be meeting the boss next week… Damn I liked what I saw though. I think that job would be a perfect fit for a multi talented creative like me. I hope the man in charge sees things the same way when I meet him. I will tell you all more when there is something to tell…
One thing of note though was the view from their office.
It is a creative company and thus the space they have needs to inspire creativity. With a view like this… I don’t think they would have any problems inspiring anything. It was hard enough not to be distracted by the view while talking to the man who asked me to come in.
I want this job.
